Admore Tshuma Work - Essay Structure

When writing an essay, it is important to keep a good structure and pacing to your writing. You don't to be explaining and expressing your thoughts too fast because this wont entice the reader and make things seem more confusing than they need to be. Another reason you want to keep a nice pace and structure is because you don't want to take too long explaining yourself, nor go off on a tangent about something with little relevance to your piece of work originally.

The structure of essays i will be talking about is split up into 3 parts. The first one being your introduction. Like the rest of your essay, the introduction is just important. Your introduction should be used to, well, introduce your reader to whatever your essay is about but it is also good to provoke the reader's interest into what you're writing. Set the scene and let any viewer know what your essay is about with a short sentence that either explains what your essay will be on, the questions you've been asked and how you're going to tackle them.

• Entice the reader
• Set the scene - a bland and boring introduction leaves for a bland and boring essay
• If needed, explain key terminology to the viewer before getting onto your main body 
• Identify and inform your reader of the issues you'll be exploring through the essay
• Provide information saying how you will deal with each issue you wish to dicuss and tackle

 Main body text is going to be the largest part of your essay and should contain all the points you make in your introduction but written more descriptively whilst still relevant to your work as a whole. Your main body of text should be split up into different paragraphs, this includes a paragraph for each topic. The first paragraph to your essay would consist of the main point and topic you wish to express which was written in your introduction and your first sentence should contain the main idea behind the entire paragraph. After you have done this, the rest of your sentences should be a follow up to your first sentence but also include example, details, evidence, quotations and references where possible and needed,

This brings us onto our second paragraph and others which follow later on if required. There isn't much to say about your second and paragraphs to come which can't be taken from the paragraph above except your first sentence this time should link to the paragraph previously and then go onto introduce the main topic for your new paragraph.

Conclusions tie in everything together, you come towards a summary in your work and conclude what you've written about. Make sure you don't introduce any new material at all no matter what, adding new content leaves it unexplained and may as well become another paragraph in your work instead of making your conclusion overly long and trailing away from what a conclusion should be.

• Tie everything in together
• Create a summary of everything you have written about
• Provide conclusions to what you've said
• Do NOT introduce new material
• Link your last sentence to your title

Admore Tshuma Work - Reading a page of a book for presentation

My presentation notes for speech:

Tutankhumun lived and died in one of the richest and more sophisticated periods in Egyptian history, filled religious turmoil and international power-politics.

He took to the throne as a young boy but his ruling was weak because in actual fact. Tutankhumun was just a small child manipulated behind a golden mask as a leader and ruler when he wasn't ready for it. His legacy was a country, physically and spiritually drained to it's absolute limits. Despite this though, he lived a very rich and wealthy life and died rich too. At the age of 16 Tutankhum had died, buried in tomb 62 of which tomb 9 was overlaying.

Contrary to popular belief, tombs in the pyramids of Egypt aren't riddled with booby traps but there are a few "anti-theft" measures the Egyptians did employ to be able to keep theives out. These included the likes of curses, a stone which weighed about a tonne or two would be placed by the entrance of the tomb with a curse written on it in hieroglyphics. Of course these curses aren't real, but they really did add to the mystery of it. The ancient Egyptians also tried their hardest in camoflaging and hiding their exact locations of the tombs by making false passage ways.

Admore Tshuma Work - Preparing to write a story

Writing a newspaper story/article may seem daunting at times, it also may seem like you don't know where to start or how you can progress along in your writing to make a fully finished story. Several things must be done because you can create your first story which is ready for publication and these include things from finding something to write about, all the way to how to be objective and fair in your writing.

Step 1: Finding something to write about

Journalism is a lot different to other styles of writing and is very real, unlike fiction. You are unable to create stories just from the top of your head and publish them as if they are real and actually happened. This means you should go out and source information, find topics which are deemed newsworthy and worth spending time to write about. An easy way to get a topic on what to write is to go out and check places out which usually has a lot of news happening around them. For instance, a court house or city hall would be a lot better than looking for a story to write about as you sit on the beach, though is entirely possible. Just not recommended. An example provided stated "Highschool Football and Basketball games can be very exciting and provide great experience for the aspiring sportswriter", this is important because depending on what type of journalist you want to be and become, you should be looking to find information and topics to speak about in places which is relevant to your topic of interest.

Step 2: Interviewing people

With a topic in mind and subject you want to write about, it's time for you to start interviewing sources, this can be done even via a phone, email or if you prefer, going out and interview them in person as well as getting the public's reaction if its a big issues which affects a lot of people. But before you jump straight into conversation with someone, you need to know what you will be asking and plan to discuss with your interviewee. Prepare questions and make sure you're fully equipped with your notepad and pen/pencil to start jotting down notes and quotes of what the person is saying. Lastly, its important to make your interviewee feel at ease when asking your questions, better interviews are those that are more like conversations, by doing this it doesn't feel awkward between you and whoever you are interviewing. You're also more likely to get better information from them than if you were just straight up asking them questions and that was all.

Step 3: Choosing quotes

Whilst taking down your notes as you interview people, you may notice you'll have a lot of quotes and things people have said. Whilst its good to have all this information, not all and only some will be used in your story. This goes to say that also, not all quotes are equal, some may be compelling and great to use in your story but others may fall flat and just not grab the attention of the reader. After all, a quote that grabs your attention will also likely grab your readers attention too.

Step 4: Reporting

Newswriting is fine and all but there is nothing better than reporting your story. To report to a professional standard one must cover all questions the reader could potentially have as well as cover topics the reader may have not thought about. This also ties in double-checking all the information you get, make sure its accurate and not false, no one wants to hear lies and you forming "facts" from your own speculation/others and carelessness to actually go out and do actual interviews and research. An important law to followed would be Murphy's Law - Just when you assume your source's name is spelled John Smith, it'll be Jon Smythe. This means to be careful and check over the work you're producing, make sure every last detail is fact and peoples name and places are also spelled correctly.

Step 5: Being objective and fair

This goes with being biased and unfair to your readers, especially on huge topics or happenings which you're covering. A news story isn't about what you personally think but what your sources have to say and you displaying that information into a story so people can read it. You may or may not have strong feelings towards a subject or feel passionate about it but these should be set aside, you need to become an observer, the person who is taking notes to form their own story. Not creating opinionated pieces of writing about how you feel.

Step 6: Crafting a great lede

Once all of your reporting and interviews are done, quotes have been chosen and you're ready to start writing up your story, its important to have a good lede. This means to have a good introductory sentence or even paragraph. You could have the most interesting story ever but it isn't worth much if your lede is terrible, people would turn a blind eye to it and not feel inclined to read on. In order to create a great lede you must think about what makes your story unique and sets it out from the rest, what do you find interesting about it? After you know, convey this in a way which would interrest your readers.

Step 7: Adding structure to the rest of your story

Having a great lede is good but you still have the rest of the entire story to write up and produce. Newswriting as a whole is loosely based on the idea of conveying and providing as much information as possible as well as quickly and efficiently. A useful tool is the inverted pyramid, and what you means and is, is that your most important information should be at the top of your story whilst the least important should be at the bottom.

Step 8: Attributing information you get from sources

Being clear about where your information comes from is an absolute must, its one of the things which defines a good journalist and is definitely important. When you explain and attribute where your information used in your story comes from it makes it more credible and builds up a trust amongst your readers. Again, no one likes hearing lies be told as if they're actual fact, and make sure you read through what you written and follow Murphy's Law.

Step 9: Checking your AP Style

Your story has been reported and your story written perfectly, but what use is this if you send a story filled with Associated Press style errors to your editor? AP Style is what is known as the gold standard for print journalism in the U.S and this is why you'll need to learn it in your journey on becoming a journalist. You should get used to checking your AP Stylebook whenever you go to write a story, and sure enough in time, you'll start to memorize and know some of the most common style points off of the top of your head like second nature.

Step 10: Follow-up story

Quick scenario, you've finished your article, sent it to your editor who praises you and its content. He/she then says to you "Great, but we'll need you to create a follow-up story". Forming a follow-up story may seem hard hard at first but it becomes easier the more you know about what you're writing about. For example, think about causes and potential consequences of the story you're currently covering, doing this is bound to create a few good follow-up idea's in your mind.

Admore Tshuma Work - My First Day of College

My first day at college

My first day at college, a day i don't think I'll forget for a long time. The mystery, the wonder and feeling of not knowing what was in store for today and the next potentially two years of my life. Despite all this, i had a bad feeling in my gut though, would i have to communicate with others, am i going to need to stand up in front of everyone and perform something embarrassing, or even have to get into a team of complete random strangers to me. As a person i am very quiet, i keep to myself and although i have my own thoughts and mind about very thing and everyone, i don't like to portray them vocally or emotionally. At least this written piece will hopefully get some home truths out, i suppose.

9AM, after waiting outside my class eagerly, being the first one there by a long shot, others started arriving, all unfamiliar faces and people i didn't know. My heart sank, no one to call my friend or anyone i remotely knew at all... I guess this course will just be me as the silent observer i always am, keeping my thoughts to myself. We all enter the class in which i hurry in first, choosing a seat right next to the door of the class room as a sort of comfort measure i guess you could call it. Again i look around, nope, nobody, no one i knew was here at all. But i suppose that's what you get when you're nearly 19 and everyone in your class is practically fresh from highschool over the summer. 

Instantly i felt nervous and scared around all the new faces i was with, everyone else seemed fine though. They already had friends, people to talk to and laugh with, i was just an odd one out. In the back of my mind the whole first period, the horrible feeling of having to spend a 2 hour lunch break all alone with no money for any food grew on me, i was lost for words and just followed instructions given the whole time. I guess i was comparable to a robot, no emotions on the outside, mechanically ticking and working away as we as class took down notes on what we were being taught but on the inside feeling trapped, lost and scared of having to now finally man up and overcome the fear of being out in real world now.

Debbie, our teacher asked us a question "Who here has used Indesign before and when?" No one raised their hand but me, i flourished red in the face after expecting at least someone else other than just me creaking their hand up nervously. I told her and the class i had used it in GCSE Media for creating a magazine as one of our units. My voice shattered as i spoke, nervously slurring the words out of my in an attempt to keep my cool. No one said anything about me and what i said other than receiving a response from our tutor but i didn't expect anything. It still makes me wonder what my peers and now friends thought of me at first glance and hearing my mouth open with actual words coming out for the time.

Next lesson was just a repeat of the first, not by content, we were learning about vector files and Illustrator apposed to Indesign and document layout. But it was the same as in the events which happened. Another question fired at the class "Who knows what a vector file is?" Again, i raise my hand in confidence everyone else around me knows too right? Right?! Nope... Anxiously looking around as all of the unlifted arms sit peacefully, I tell Dan, our tutor and the class a vector file is a mathematical equation. I didn't blush this time or stutter, my mind was already fixated on what i wanted to achieve and that was finishing this course and hopefully one day making a living for myself doing what i love, creating and publishing small booklets and magazines as well as writing. My mind is good at doing that you see, if i want to i can completely forget about everything else going on in my head, push the hyper drive button and chug myself down the train tracks of focus and determination whilst blowing steam bigger than mountains as i go along, my fingers working away along the keys. 

 Lunch time, everyone started packing in which i sighed, logging out of my computer and collecting my bag from the floor. I stood up, watching everyone else laugh and smile around me before stumbling my way out the class room, down the stairs and into the town by myself. I walked around endlessly, lost in what i should do, i couldn't exactly eat anything could i? I stopped off at multiple shops, just to browse and kill time as well as tried to cool down from the red hot face i had all day from the insufferable amount of travelling by foot just to get to the college this morning. In retrospect i guess lunch didn't take too long to be over and done with. ...I guess, once again i climb the stairs to the third floor, out of breath because of how unhealthy i am and awaited outside my classroom in the hallway alone. Part of me was really not enjoying this course because of my loneliness but the other half was pushing me to just do it, get the course done so i can move onto bigger and better things. 

2PM, only 3 hours to go till i can go home. ...Alone, by myself. Yes, even the thought of returning home upset me at this point. Everything was so new to me and now i was placed a mile away from home with people i had never known before and was expected to just fit in and get along with everyone. At least in my head i felt like i was meant to. Our tutor for third period, Steve seemed friendly and introduced himself nicely, but then dropped one bombshell which had everyone scrambling for their pens and paper. "I'm going to talk to you about my career in journalism and how i got here today and i want you all to take notes for later". Straight away, like a tidal wave he started, all our pens touched the surface, scribbling down and frantically writing up what he was saying. 

...And saying, and saying, aaaannd saying. 8 pages of notes i scribbled down, my hand aching and worn out as i rested it onto the desk now with a slight headache and drowsiness about it. Well if it could get worse it just did then, now i had a headache on top of everything else today. Just great! 

Luckily it all came to a close and end though soon enough and i could leave for the day to return home and straight into bed to relive the same broken record the next day. A lot has changed since that first day and i think its important that whilst i kept my thoughts about individual people not present, i was quick to judge and dismiss them as never having a compatible friendship but to this day now i think it stands that i don't dislike anyone or think negatively about anyone and would be happy and proud to call them my class mates and friends. 

Admore Tshuma Work - What I Will Never Forget In My Life

My story-

I feel like there’s a lot of negative stigma behind the internet and gaming. A lot of people because of the media get the wrong impression and feel as if playing games online or spending time on the internet is a negative and shouldn’t be done. A lot of people also think gamers are perhaps, homophobic and sexist too. Maybe some, but not all. Here’s my story of my experiences online and how I made the best friends of my life solely from playing one game.
    Truth be told, I was spoilt as a child, I had everything I wanted and couldn’t be happier in my younger years, something was always missing though. I never really had any friends, people would bully me and hurt me in school, steal my Pokémon cards till I broke down crying to my mum over it, and this never stopped either. All throughout primary school and high school, I was bullied. Even during the death of my father which made me take 6 weeks off of school because of the whole ordeal back in 2007.

Everyday I’d come home and just feel hollow, I never had any friends, I didn’t know how to interact with other people because I automatically assumed they just hated me because of who I am. I began to spend a lot of my time at my computer, playing silly flash games and games such as Runescape, Maplestory. Now, I know this doesn’t sound good, and well yes, a lot of it proves the stereotype people have towards people who enjoy games and playing games online. But without games and the people I met online, I don’t think I would be alive today.

Highschool had ended, I had no idea what to do with my life still, I failed a few of my gcses because of family life becoming even more divided amongst ourselves, I stopped speaking to my brothers, my mother and did my own thing. During this time, because of the situation I was in, I started playing a game called TeamFortress 2, its basically a first person shooter which arguably sounds pretty generic but it was so much more to me than that, it was where I made my first friends. I suppose they were an alright group of people, all my age or a little younger and we used to play on the same servers together. They used to all speak via their microphones and I would just sit there silent, nervous and quiet. We played a lot still together though, and my lack of communication was made up for in-game chatting and typing to them all.

A problem arose in my personal life though, and ultimately caused me to fall into depression as my health worsened. My mother had a new boyfriend and well, no one really liked him in my family. And for a good reason. He would hurt and abuse us all, hit my mum and call her names, smash glasses and plates in anger and even take it out on stuff like the telephone wire and cable. Before I knew it, all the people I spoke to and played games with were suddenly gone, I had no one anymore, not even my own family because of how bad things grew between us all. I grew more depressive and unhealthy and got into a really bad state in my life, despite my efforts to attend college and make an effort to be somebody or something, all fell short and I ended up leaving my courses early in the past 2 years and returned to playing games online with my friends occasionally when we actually had an internet connection.

I wont go into too much detail about my own personal life during that time, as that’s another story to tell. My friends online though were very supportive and there for me and I was finally able to chat and talk to them using a microphone, at first it felt weird and I was rather scared or nervous but by the evening we were discussing and talking back and fourth like it was just second nature. I finally felt complete with a group of people that I’d never met in person but just because of one game.

Now knowing all these people for nearly 4 years, having so many great memories and happy moments, I feels better than ever to say that my family life has improved a big deal, I have regular conversations with all of my family and still stay in contact with the same friends who pulled me out of the large pit I had dug myself, I am more grateful than ever because I know my story doesn’t start so well but I didn’t let that dictate my future and people I didn’t even know in person also sacrificed their time for me to help me out of shear kindness.

That is my story, and though it may come across as very geeky or nerdy, I love my friends and feel blessed for what I have been able to experience. I’ve been through the worst of it and I’m finally back to make a full recovering and name for myself.